HELE BAY painted on a canvas panel 500 x 250mm, using some pigments sourced at Fremington Quay. I am presently working on smaller scale pictures to keep my enthusiasm whilst planning larger compositions which move away from my usual landscape work. Hele is a favourite place of ours to search for seaglass and is a short pleasurable walk along the coast from Ilfracombe Harbour. There is free parking here and is a great place to sit in the sun or explore the rock pools.
Another Biddie Black this time of Greencliff near Abbotsham in North Devon, painted on thick cartridge paper 700 x 260mm. and above is a video of removing the tape along with some of my guitar music to keep it company.
It is at Greencliff where I obtain my black pigment after walking down the winding coast path, past the old lime kiln and scrambling over the pebble ridge. On this particular day it was quite warm so I spent a lot of time here sketching and taking photos. I was asked by someone on the beach, was I digging for Bideford Black as they had read about it? I confirmed their suspicion and showed them where it was collected along with my black hands as evidence. I love this part of the coastline as it’s very secluded and quite a suntrap, ideal for evening BBQs. Someone before me had dug out some pigment and left the cliff in quite a state with a gaping hole this I made good with more mud and pebbles. You know what they say, ‘Love the beach leave no trace!’ and that includes litter.
A day at Speke’s Mill Mouth Beach. What a wave and a few surfers enjoying a useful swell. After the long walk and a scramble down a steep path with their boards the reward was an uncrowded local wave. Ideal conditions!
A plein air painting of Crow Point from last year on a rather wet and dismal afternoon. What beautiful framing by Julian Greaves Photography in Somerset. The new owner kindly says, ‘This beautiful painting captures the very essence of Crow Beach which has many wonderful memories for me – particularly times there with my Dad and his boat.’ Al
This is an image of mine of the famous Blackpool Mill Cottage on the North Devon Coast. It’s a the end of a wonderful walk from Hartland Abbey, but can also be reached along the coast from Hartland Quay. This cottage has appeared in a few films such as the BBC production as Barton Cottage in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, in Rosamund Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers, and the 2016 location for The Lanyon in BBC’s The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston. On warm summer days the pebble beach here is a welcome reward for the walk, there is a cool waterfall to plunge into and rockpools to explore.
Al Brown Multimedia Artist. 